Caption: Celestial soldiers, 16th-century artwork. This artwork is from 'Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon' (1557) by the German author Conrad Lycosthenes (1518-1561). In this work, Lycosthenes linked heavenly objects and apparitions, such as comets and aurorae, to events on Earth. In most cases, modern science can now explain such phenomena, but in earlier times it was common to ascribe such events to gods or other deities battling in the heavens. This artwork was republished in the 13th volume (first period of 1894) of the French popular science weekly 'La Science Illustree'.